FOR  THE  MEN  WHO  ARE 
REBUILDING  EUROPE 


NUMBER  TWENTY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/formenwhoarerebuOOunse 


FOREWORD 


Shortly  following  the  armistice,  the  American  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association  adopted  as  a  fundamental  policy 
the  early  transfer  of  all  permanent  features  of  its  work  in 
Europe  to  local  and  national  organizations  in  the  countries 
concerned.  Although  the  armistice  seemed  at  first  to  mark 
the  achievement  of  the  high  purposes  to  which  America,  in 
common  with  her  allies,  had  devoted  her  best  efforts,  it  be¬ 
came  more  and  more  evident  that  all  which  had  been  won 
must  be  guarded  against  disintegrating  forces  released  with 
the  slackening  of  united  national  and  international  efforts. 
This  continued  service  abroad  has  afforded  an  uninterrupted 
manifestation  of  American  sympathy,  good  will  and  Chris¬ 
tian  ideals  which  has  been  a  potent  force  in  determining 
public  sentiment  in  Europe. 

In  no  country  has  the  policy  of  the  Association  been 
more  successfully  exemplified  or  more  cordially  welcomed 
than  in  Czechoslovakia.  Christian  men  prominent  in  pro¬ 
fessional  and  business  life  have  accepted  the  responsibility 
of  leadership,  and  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association 
in  Czechoslovakia  is  now  an  independent  national  enterprise 
with  every  prospect  of  permanence.  The  reports  which  are 
presented  in  the  following  pages  voice  the  experiences  and 
the  views  of  the  Czech  secretaries  even  more  than  those  of 
American  representatives  who  remain  in  the  country. 

C.  V.  HIBBARD. 

June  1,  1922. 


WHAT  THEY  THINK  OF  US 

(From  an  article  In  the  “Narodni  Listy”  of  Prague,  January  1922.) 


You  really  cannot  keep  from  being  greatly  impressed  if 
you  watch  the  life  in  the  Studentsky  Domov;  the  feeling  of 
gratitude  to  its  founders  fills  your  heart.  Strange  people, 
these  Americans.  They  possess  an  insignificant  artistic 
culture,  but  a  high  moral  culture;  the  country  of  the  frantic 
hunt  after  money,  whose  people  go  and  die  on  the  European 
battlegrounds  for  the  ideal  of  liberty.  And  we  ought  to  bow 
before  their  practical  spirit.  The  whole  Studensky  Domov, 
provided  from  the  gifts  of  the  students  of  Ohio  University 
and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  cost  only  something 
over  4,000,000  Kc;  since  our  independence  our  people  have 
given  to  similar  purposes  sums  more  than  ten  times  as  great. 
The  difference  is  that  we  in  all  our  gifts  (excepting  the 
student  colony  at  Letna)  have  counted  on  a  work  for  eternity 
— some  monumental  palace  of  stone,  the  realization  of  which 
would  require  many  years.  Instead  they,  without  hesitation, 
changed  their  gift  into  blood  and  life,  erecting  a  temporary 
building  which  possibly  after  twenty  years  will  become  a 
heap  of  firewood,  but  which  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  need 
was  a  refuge  for  many  students  and  enabled  thousands  of 
young  people  to  attain  their  goal. 


A  YEAR  IN  CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

Neighbors  Indeed 

After  three  hundred  years  of  subjection  the  Czechoslovak  na¬ 
tion  has  once  more  become  supreme  master  of  the  land  which 
it  has  possessed  since  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era. 

The  Czechoslovaks  accepted  the  duty  of  self-government  with 
full  knowledge  of  their  great  and  difficult  domestic  problems  and 
realization  of  the  obligations  incumbent  upon  them  as  a  junior 
member  in  the  family  of  nations  striving  for  the  economic  and 
cultural  progress  of  mankind. 

The  spirit  of  these  truly  great  people  has  its  most  beautiful 
expression  in  the  wisdom,  the  generosity,  and  the  self-sacrifice 
with  which  the  people  and  the  government  are  working  together  to 
aid  their  neighbors,  greater  sufferers  than  themselves  from  the  dis¬ 
aster  that  came  upon  the  world  in  1914. 

In  reports  of  1921  Mr.  W.  W.  Gethman,  chief  secretary  of 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  in  Czechoslovakia,  writes: 

Large  numbers  of  Russian  refugees  are  constantly  coming 
into  the  country,  and  are  being  assisted  by  the  government.  Sev¬ 
eral  thousand  refugee  students  have  just  been  given  permission  to 
come  to  Prague  to  attend  her  higher  school  of  learning.  .  .  . 
throughout  October  the  people  have  continued  to  express  their  in¬ 
terest  in  Russia.  First  of  all  they  have  continued  in  Parliament  a  bill 
appropriating  ten  millions  of  crowns  for  relief  in  Russia.  This 
sum  is  not  to  be  sent  in  the  form  of  food,  but  in  the  form  of  agri¬ 
cultural  implements  and  seed.  Through  the  efforts  of  the  junior 
section  of  the  Czechoslovak  Red  Cross  nearly  a  thousand  house¬ 
holds  have  each  agreed  to  receive  and  to  care  for  a  Russian  orphan. 
Immediate  steps  are  being  taken  to  bring  the  children  to  Czecho¬ 
slovakia.  Throughout  the  republic  the  school  children  are  rais¬ 
ing  funds  for  the  feeding  of  the  starving  children  in  Russia. 

How  We  Came  to  Czechoslovakia 

The  American  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  began  its 
service  for  the  men  who  are  now  citizens  of  the  new  republic 
long  before  the  republic  had  an  official  existence  in  the  family  of 
nations.  As  early  as  1915  the  Association  began  to  touch  large 
numbers  of  Czechs  and  Slovaks  through  its  work  in  prisoners  of 
war  camps  in  Russia.  In  the  later  months  when  the  Czechoslovak 


3 


legions  were  formed  on  the  Russian,  Italian,  and  French  fronts,  the 
Association  at  once  extended  its  service  to  these  new  units.  When 
after  the  signing  of  the  armistice  these  legions  began  to  return  to 
their  homeland,  both  officers  and  men  insisted  that  the  Association 
should  go  with  them,  and  the  new  government  extended  an  official 
invitation. 

As  was  the  case  in  each  of  the  other  countries  in  which  work 
was  begun  following  the  armistice,  the  Association  entered  under 
special  agreements  with  the  War  Ministry  or  some  other  branch  of 
the  administration.  In  Czechoslovakia  the  Ministry  of  National 
Defense  agreed  to  provide  quarters,  including  heat  and  light,  a 
reasonable  number  of  soldier  helpers  for  the  huts,  transportation 
on  railways,  and  exemption  from  the  payment  of  duties  on  supplies 
and  equipment.  The  Association  in  turn  agreed  to  supply  entirely 
at  its  own  cost  expert  American  supervisors ;  equipment  for  huts, 
including  decorations,  pianos,  victrolas  and  musical  instruments; 
cinema  machines  and  films ;  athletic  equipment  and  gymnasium 
apparatus;  library  books,  daily  papers,  magazines,  and  writing 
materials.  It  also  agreed  to  import  flour  and  milk  for  the  making 
of  hot  drinks  and  buns  and  to  sell  these  at  cost  as  a  supplement  to 
the  ration  provided  by  the  army  which,  because  of  the  general  food 
situation,  was  of  necessity  very  limited. 

Through  the  excellent  cooperation  of  the  Ministry  of  Na¬ 
tional  Defense  the  Association  opened  between  January,  1919,  and 
August,  1920,  more  than  seventy  army  centers,  and  under  the 
agreement  with  the  Ministry  it  was  possible  to  develop  practically 
a  standard  Association  program.  No  restrictions  of  any  kind  were 
placed  on  the  Association  with  reference  to  its  moral  and  spiritual 
work  and  the  reports  which  follow  will  show  the  extent  to  which 
both  the  American  and  the  Czech  secretaries  were  able  to  develop 
this  part  of  the  work.  Because  of  the  extreme  conditions  that 
existed  in  the  months  following  the  armistice,  first  attention  was  of 
necessity  given  to  meeting  the  outstanding  physical  needs  of  the 
men.  As  these  needs  became  less  acute  additional  phases  of  the 
standard  Association  program  were  undertaken.  We  believe 
we  are  expressing  the  opinion  of  the  several  American  secretaries 
who  have  visited  the  work  in  Czechoslovakia  in  recent  months 
when  we  say  that  the  average  program  at  present  carried  on  in 
the  army  centers  is  as  well  rounded  and  all  inclusive  as  is  the 
program  carried  on  in  the  average  American  Association. 

The  experience  of  the  last  two  years  has  made  evident  several 
fields  of  usefulness  for  the  Association.  This  country  in  addition 
to  the  problems  common  to  most  of  the  new  nations,  is  faced  with 
the  task  of  unifying  within  its  borders  several  nationalistic  groups, 


4 


which,  because  of  temperament  and  former  political  connections, 
are  not  naturally  friendly  to  each  other.  The  Czechs  and  Slovaks 
because  of  their  common  Slav  origin  will  work  out  questions  hav¬ 
ing  to  do  with  national  unity  without  serious  difficulty.  The  large 
German  population  on  the  northern  and  western  borders  and  the 
Magyar  population  in  the  south  of  Slovakia  will,  however,  for  years 
to  come  test  the  tact  and  diplomacy  of  the  administration.  In  a 
number  of  cities  the  only  undertakings  in  which  these  national 
groups  have  united  in  any  way  whatsoever  have  been  under  the 
auspices  of  the  American  Association.  They  somehow  think  of 
this  organization  as  something  entirely  apart  from  creeds,  political 
parties,  and  national  groups.  They  feel  that  under  it  they  may 
safely  unite  for  carrying  through  a  project.  If  the  Association 
can  continue  successfully  the  experiment  among  these  nationalistic 
groups  it  has  a  real  contribution  to  make  to  the  life  of  the  new 
republic. 

Then  again  the  community  life  of  the  republic  is  torn  by  a 
score  of  political  parties,  each  of  which  tries  to  control  all  the 
interests  of  all  the  members  of  its  own  particular  group.  As  a 
result  they  have  as  many  social  or  athletic  groups  in  any  one  com¬ 
munity  as  they  have  political  parties.  This  results  in  turn  in  a 
lot  of  small  societies  handicapped  for  financial  and  other  reasons. 
In  a  number  of  communities  the  entire  recreational  life  has  been 
enriched  and  enlarged  by  the  Association  which  has  come  in  as  a 
non-political  organization. 

In  the  religious  field  the  Association  has  a  similar  contribution 
to  make.  Although  Czechoslovakia  has  been  the  home  of  some 
of  the  greatest  of  the  church  leaders,  including  John  Huss,  it 
remains  true  that  in  the  past  religion  for  most  of  the  people  has 
meant  merely  an  outward  formal  thing.  For  a  few  others  it  has 
meant  intense  religious  controversy.  The  Association  comes  advo¬ 
cating  a  vital,  constructive  religious  program  with  the  emphasis  on 
service.  This  idea  has  been  caught  by  thousands  of  men  who  have 
come  to  know  the  Association  in  the  army  huts,  and  especially  by 
the  two  hundred  Czechoslovak  hut  workers.  Through  them  the 
idea  is  already  beginning  to  express  itself  visibly  in  the  churches. 

The  movement  can,  of  course,  have  a  future  in  the  republic 
only  in  so  far  as  it  is  able  to  find  citizens  of  the  republic  who  have 
the  ability  and  the  desire  to  continue  the  work.  Eighteen  months 
ago  definite  beginnings  were  made  in  the  technical  training  of 
Czechoslovaks  for  the  work  of  secretaryship.  In  addition  to  the 
special  courses  offered  several  scores  of  men  have  been  trained  for 
periods  varying  from  six  to  twenty-four  months  in  the  actual  school 
of  experience  under  American  secretaries. 


5 


As  Seen  by  a  Senator 

Senator  Klofac,  Vice-President  of  the  Czechoslovak  senate 
and  formerly  Minister  of  National  Defense,  made  an  extensive 
trip  through  the  United  States  last  year.  He  had  been  a  warm 
friend  of  the  Association  in  his  own  country,  and  he  took  time 
while  here  to  study  the  American  organization.  When  the  build¬ 
ings  and  equipment  provided  by  the  War  Work  Council  for  the 
work  in  Czechoslovakia  were  transferred  to  the  newly  formed  Na¬ 
tional  Council,  he  sent  to  the  International  Committee  in  New 
York  the  following  message: 

The  American  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  and  the 
American  public  have  contributed  to  my  country  a  going,  well- 
established  organization  of  national  scope.  We  now  take  over 
its  possession  and  control  with  appreciation  that  full  faith  has 
been  kept  by  the  American  Association  in  all  features  of  the 
conditions  under  which  it,  at  the  request  of  our  government,  en¬ 
tered  Czechoslovakia.  I  would  like  to  state  in  this  connection,  that, 
contrary  to  unfounded  reports,  which  I  understand  have  been 
circulated  in  some  quarters,  the  service  of  the  American  Associa¬ 
tion  in  Czechoslovakia  has  been  freely  and  generously  given.  The 
situation  throughout  has  been  characterized  by  cordial  under¬ 
standing. 

As  a  result  of  the  work  of  the  American  Association,  we 
now  have,  after  less  than  three  years  in  Czechoslovakia,  an  organi¬ 
zation  with  some  fifty-one  Associations,  and  twenty-eight  branches, 
a  number  of  fine  buildings,  extensive  equipment,  and  native  sec¬ 
retaries  trained  under  American  leadership,  conducting  a  range  of 
activities  such  as  one  finds  in  countries  where  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association  has  been  longer  at  work. 

I  am  sure  that  the  organization  in  our  country  will  continue 
to  be  of  high  service.  The  National  Committee  for  the  Czecho¬ 
slovak  Association  looks  forward  to  just  such  close  relations  with 
the  International  Committee  in  America  as  exist  between  that 
committee  and  the  representative  bodies  of  other  countries. 

With  the  Ninth  Division 

Tramava,  Slovakia. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Gethman  : 

Now  that  most  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Czechoslovak  army  are 
demobilized  and  the  new  recruits  have  been  called  to  the  colors, 
I  feel  impelled  to  write  you  about  my  impressions  of  the  activity 
of  the  Association  in  my  division. 


6 


In  the  difficult  times  when,  during  the  last  two  years  the 
danger  from  the  East  threatened  our  country,  and  when  internal 
differences  and  misunderstandings  menaced  our  nation,  this  was 
one  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  and  means  of  instilling  into  the 
soldiers  a  high  standard  of  morality,  courage,  and  discipline.  This 
help  was  expressed  in  various  ways.  In  the  first  instance  the  hut 
provided  for  the  soldiers  a  home,  a  place  where  they  felt  that 
everything  was  for  them.  The  soldiers  knew  that  after  the  labor 
and  service  of  the  day  there  awaited  them  an  agreeable  evening 
with  games  and  entertainment,  and  a  place  where  they  could  write 
letters  to  their  families.  This  kept  alive  in  their  memories  the  best 
impulses  associated  with  the  home  they  had  left  behind  them.  The 
frequent  entertainments  not  only  occupied  many  of  their  leisure 
hours  but  contributed  to  their  general  information.  Comradeship 
between  soldiers  was  strengthened  by  many  an  evening  game  over 
chess  and  checkers.  The  canteen  not  only  furnished  to  the  soldiers 
coffee,  cocoa,  soup,  and  buns  at  a  very  low  price,  but  brought  them 
together  in  a  social  atmosphere  that  was  elevating  instead  of  de¬ 
moralizing.  The  library  books  and  newspapers  gave  to  the  men 
an  opportunity  for  culture  and  kept  them  informed  on  current 
events.  The  presence  of  some  civilians  at  the  entertainments  and 
the  giving  of  entertainments  by  civilians  brought  about  a  sym¬ 
pathetic  understanding  between  soldiers  and  town  people. 

The  cooperation  of  the  Association  makes  the  relation  of  a 
commanding  officer  with  his  troops  more  agreeable.  Through  it 
he  has  opportunity  to  express  his  concern  for  the  personal  welfare 
and  happiness  of  the  men.  Also  the  athletics  provided  by  the  Asso¬ 
ciation  was  received  with  enthusiasm  in  all  the  garrisons.  This 
service  was  extended  to  many  of  the  outside  units.  Letter  paper, 
soap,  indoor  and  outdoor  games,  books  and  occasional  entertain¬ 
ments  have  been  furnished  to  the  men  in  the  various  villages.  But 
this  outside  service  was  greatly  increased  when  a  kino  truck  was 
attached  to  my  division.  This  truck  has  brought  entertainments  to 
the  smaller  garrisons  and  to  many  civilians  living  in  isolated  parts 
of  Slovakia  far  from  railroads  and  culture,  where  a  kino  had  never 
been  seen  before. 

As  available  as  has  been  the  service  of  the  Association  to  the 
old  soldiers,  it  will  doubtless  contribute  yet  much  more  of  value  to 
the  new  soldiers,  because  from  the  very  beginning  of  their  military 
service  they  will  be  under  the  influence  of  its  educational  and  moral 
standards.  As  a  result  of  this  influence  I  look  forward  to  see  an 
army  on  a  new  basis,  an  army  composed  of  men  who  are  not  only 
brave  soldiers  but  also  men  of  high  principles;  a  real  democratic 
army,  whose  soldiers  have  both  ideals  and  patriotism.  I  cannot 


7 


better  express  my  appreciation  and  thankfulness  for  the  help  of 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  in  my  division  than  by  re¬ 
questing  that  its  beneficial  work  shall  never  cease  in  the  ranks  of 
my  soldiers. 

With  the  expression  of  my  highest  consideration,  I  am 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Karel  Holy, 

Commander  of  the  Ninth  Division. 

From  a  Movie  Man 

Slovakia,  February  28,  1921. 

Dear  Mr. - 

It  is  a  pity  we  cannot  talk  together. 

As  I  leave  the  Association  I  want  to  tell  you  something  about 
my  experience.  On  the  15th  of  March,  1920,  our  commander  of 
the  photocinema  department  of  the  MNO,  where  I  was  employed, 
announced  to  us,  that  the  Association  wanted  a  few  cinema  oper¬ 
ators  for  their  huts.  I  wanted  very  much  to  get  away,  yet  I  had 
not  the  slightest  notion  of  having  anything  to  do  with  a  Christian 
association.  I  had  the  chance  to  get  assigned  to  the  Plebiscite 
Commission  in  Orava  and  Spis.  Along  with  this  occupation  I  had 
a  nice  income  in  view  also.  But  something  happened  which  no¬ 
body  expected.  The  work  of  the  commission  was  nearing  its 
end  and  we  were  released.  What  could  be  done?  I  happened  to 
think  of  the  Association.  Well !  what  sort  of  organization  can 
that  be?  Shall  I  join  it  or  not?  Well,  never  mind,  I  will  try  it! 

When  I  applied  at  the  headquarters  office,  I  was  much  as¬ 
tonished  that  no  question  was  raised  about  the  statement  filled  out 
on  my  application  that  I  was  without  confession.  Going  home  I 
was  thinking  all  the  time  how  it  was  possible  that  a  religious  in¬ 
stitution  should  engage  people  of  my  type.  I  didn’t  bother  about 
it  much  more  but  thought  to  myself  “Well!  we  shall  see,”  and  I 
waited  till  I  should  be  told  to  leave.  But  nothing  of  the  sort  hap¬ 
pened. 

In  the  meantime  I  left  for  Komarno  in  Slovakia  where  I  was 
to  learn  the  real  principles  of  the  Association,  principles  which 
are  fundamental  in  an  organization  that  endeavors  to  make  people 
avoid  doing  evil  and  criminal  things,  and  which  teaches  men  to 
do  good  and  preach  love  and  brotherhood.  All  the  time  while  in 
the  service  of  the  Association  I  paid  great  attention  to  the  leader¬ 
ship  not  only  of  the  religious  programs  but  also  of  the  other  good 
things.  I  made  out  that  the  organization  was  no  factory  for 
making  a  sect  of  Christians,  as  some  careless  critics  often  state. 


8 


It  is  endeavoring  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  Christ  but  it  does  not 
force  any  religion  on  anybody.  It  talks,  explains,  and  gives  exam¬ 
ples  of  honest  and  correct  living.  I  was  an  unbeliever  and  there¬ 
fore  I  could  not  call  these  religious  principles  my  own.  It  has 
been  too  short  a  time  to  fully  decide  such  an  important  matter,  but 
I  am  leaving  the  organization  with  very  valuable  lessons  in  mind, 
lessons  which  are  directing  my  life  toward  an  altogether  different 
ideal ;  my  whole  path  will  be  straightened  out  as  it  would  not  have 
been  if  I  had  not  had  the  chance  to  come  in  contact  with  the  Asso¬ 
ciation.  I  am  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  in  this  direction  it  is 
given  to  mankind  to  find  what  is  true  and  reasonable,  and  following 
this  path  the  whole  world  will  come  to  live  in  satisfaction  and  peace. 

R.  Radnicky. 


A  Boy  and  His  Mother 

Dear  Director: 

Kindly  excuse  my  troubling  you  with  a  few  lines.  It  seems  to 
me  almost  my  duty,  being  the  mother  of  an  only  son,  to  thank 
you  most  heartily  for  what  you  have  taught  my  son  and  for  the  suit 
which  you  gave  him.  I  wish  to  express  the  most  sincere  thanks 
from  the  depths  of  a  mother’s  heart  to  you  his  benefactor  and 
will  take  the  liberty  to  give  you  a  little  sketch  of  what  my  son 
used  to  be. 

At  fourteen  years  old  he  was  put  to  learn  a  trade  at  which  he 
stayed  for  two  years,  but  his  comrades  led  him  astray  and  he  re¬ 
fused  to  continue  his  work.  In  this  way  he  fell  into  the  hands 
of  bad  friends,  who  became  more  to  him  than  his  own  mother. 
My  whole  family  became  quite  desperate  and  it  was  no  use  talking 
to  him  either  kindly  or  strictly,  for  his  friends  were  the  only 
people  to  whom  he  paid  any  attention.  Eventually  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  was  no  hope  and  forbade  him  the  house. 
Then  a  long  time  elapsed  during  which  there  were  no  tidings  of 
him  and  I  was  very  sorry  for  what  I  had  done,  feeling  that  he 
had  fallen  into  still  worse  hands.  But,  dear  director,  how  happy 
I  was  when,  through  a  letter  which  I  received  from  him,  I  learned 
he  was  in  your  care,  his  noble  benefactor.  And  when  he  came 
home  for  his  vacation  we  could  hardly  believe  our  eyes !  He  was 
dressed  very  neatly  and  was  clean,  and  his  greatest  pleasure  was 
to  be  able  to  enjoy  our  company  and  tell  us  about  his  good  resolu¬ 
tions  and  how  highly  he  appreciated  and  is  grateful  to  his  teacher 
for  his  ability  and  strength  of  will.  My  daughter  offered  him 
some  alcohol  when  he  was  home,  and  we  were  very  astonished  to 
see  how  he  hates  it.  It  was  the  same  when  we  suggested  playing 
cards.  He  did  not  wish  to  have  anything  more  to  do  with  his  old 


9 


friends,  saying  that  he  had  found  another  friend  who  had  taught 
him  what  it  is  to  lead  a  real  good  life,  and  you  are  that  friend, 
dear  Director. 

You  cannot  even  imagine  the  great  joy  I  have  in  my  child,  and 
I  can  only  be  thankful  to  you.  I  close  this  letter  to  you  with  hap¬ 
piness  in  my  heart,  and  I  wish  to  express  once  more  the  heartiest 
thanks  of  a  woman  who  was  once  desperate. 


BUILDERS  OF  A  NATION 

Patriots  First,  Then  Legionnaires 

The  whole  Czechoslovak  nation  awaited  with  bated  breath 
the  outcome  of  the  meeting  of  the  legions  in  January,  1921,  called 
together  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  into  one  the  three  or  more 
factions  which  had  formed  themselves  into  various  organizations. 
Strong  animosity  toward  one  another  had  developed  in  these 
groups;  bitter  feeling  was  increasing  among  them;  instead  of  help¬ 
ing  the  country,  they  were  dividing  it.  This  convention  had  been 
called  to  try  to  unite  these  great  forces  to  work  in  unison  and 
harmony,  to  finish,  in  time  of  peace,  the  reconstruction  of  their 
country  for  the  saving  of  which  in  time  of  war  these  same  legions 
had  stood  together  as  brothers,  to  the  end  it  might  not  perish  off 
the  earth.  If  these  men,  the  real  saviours  of  a  country  oppressed 
for  three  centuries,  the  backbone  and  the  hope  of  the  future  of  the 
nation,  would  unite  and  with  the  same  loyalty  that  bound  them 
together  in  Siberia,  France,  and  Italy  would  pledge  to  work  to¬ 
gether  in  one  body  to  finish  the  task  that  they  started  there,  then  all 
loyal  Czechs  and  Slovaks  would  know  that  their  country  was  in 
safe  hands,  and  the  enemies  of  the  nation,  secretly  doing  all  in 
their  power  to  bring  about  its  downfall,  would  be  powerless.  It 
meant  that  President  Masaryk  would  have  the  unanimous  support 
of  this  mighty  body  in  carrying  out  the  laws  and  new  measures  of 
the  new  republic.  It  meant  that  the  influence  of  this  action  would 
be  felt  not  only  at  home  but  abroad,  giving  this  republic  the  con¬ 
fidence  of  foreign  nations. 

The  convention  was  held  in  the  National  Home  at  Karlin. 
The  delegates  each  representing  one  hundred  and  twenty,  of  all 
ranks  and  from  all  parts  of  the  republic,  began  gathering  several 
days  before  the  meeting. 

Sunday  was  the  great  day.  Long  before  the  opening  hour, 
auditorium  and  halls  were  crowded  with  delegates  and  hundreds 
of  legionaires  from  Prague  were  gathered  around  the  entrance. 
President  Masaryk  sent  a  message  by  his  personal  representative. 

10 


Dr.  Alice  Masaryk  was  present  and  impressively  urged  the  need 
of  a  united  body  of  legionaires  closing  with  the  words  that  if  there 
were  any  who  opposed  a  union,  it  were  better  that  the  Siberian* 
winter  had  claimed  them  for  herself  in  the  long  sleep.  Minister 
Klofac  and  other  members  of  the  State  spoke  briefly.  Many  tele¬ 
grams  and  messages  were  received.  In  the  gallery  sat  Secretary 
of  State  Benes,  General  Syrovy  and  his  staff,  and  other  notables. 
The  Association  representative  was  called  and  received  a  rousing 
ovation.  He  spoke  briefly,  expressing  the  great  joy  the  Association 
had  had  in  working  on  all  fronts  with  the  Czechoslovaks. 

In  the  afternoon  the  great  question  was  decided.  There  was 
some  jockeying  by  members  of  the  existing  organizations,  a  few 
individuals  tried  to  hinder,  but  the  enthusiasm  of  the  delegates  and 
the  sentiment  of  those  whom  they  represented  was  so  overwhelm¬ 
ingly  strong  for  union,  that  when  the  big  question  came  up  it  was 
unanimously  carried  by  acclamation,  with  not  a  dissenting  vote. 
This  proved  to  the  delegates  themselves  that  the  spirit  of  the  re¬ 
markable  little  army,  welded  together  for  a  common  cause  in 
Russia  in  1917  still  existed,  and  the  Czechoslovak  republic  need 
have  no  fear.  It  was  wonderful  to  see  these  men  time  and  again 
give  up  some  point  they  were  working  for,  in  order  that  the  main 
purpose,  that  of  one  organization  only,  might  be  attained.  They 
seemed  back  in  Siberia  again.  They  addressed  one  another  as 
“Bratre,”  and  men  of  all  ranks,  colonels  and  doughboys,  were 
“brother”  to  each  other.  I  have  never  seen  a  finer  gathering  of 
men,  nor  a  more  democratic  one.  And  the  way  they  expedited 
matters  speaking  fearlessly  and  frankly,  was  good  to  behold. 

The  Association  secretary  was  given  a  seat  in  the  front,  and 
during  recesses  he  was  always  surrounded  by  a  crowd  who  brought 
up  reminiscenses  of  the  old  times  in  the  huts,  and  I  was  told  what 
the  Association  meant  to  them  in  those  days.  They  will  never 
forget  the  red  triangle.  I  had  worked  with  some  of  these  men  in 
France  while  they  were  yet  prisoners  of  war  before  they  formed 
their  legion,  and  in  my  freight  car  fitted  up  as  a  tea  room,  had 
twice  crossed  vast  Siberia  with  the  Russian  legions.  It  certainly 
was  a  rare  privilege  to  represent  the  Association  on  this  momentous 
and  historical  occasion. 

A.  W.  Chez. 


John  Huss  and  Afterward 

Bohemia  and  Moravia  were  the  earliest  progenitors  of  Protes¬ 
tantism  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Influenced  by  John  Wycliffe’s 
writings,  John  Huss  and  his  followers  led  in  the  great  reform 
movement  of  the  early  15th  century  Huss,  excommunicated  and 


11 


burned  at  the  stake  at  Constance,  became  the  great  national  and 
religious  hero  of  that  country.  The  religious  and  national  ques¬ 
tions  were  dominant  and  also  hopelessly  mixed  and  confused  dur¬ 
ing  the  next  two  hundred  years  after  Huss.  By  1620  authorities 
claim  that  nine-tenths  of  the  people  were  Protestants.  In  1620,  at 
the  battle  of  White  Mountain,  the  Hapsburgs  finally  completed 
their  political  and  religious  domination  of  the  country.  From  that 
date  on  Protestantism  was  stamped  out,  so  that  in  1918  official  re¬ 
ports  would  show  religious  census  figures  to  be  reversed  and  per¬ 
haps  nine-tenths  of  the  people  were  nominally  Catholics.  The 
revolution  of  October,  1918,  brought  many  changes.  Religious 
as  well  as  political  freedom  was  assured  and  today  both  are 
increasingly  becoming  realities. 

The  Moravian  Brethren  in  origin  dating  back  to  the  Hussite 
times,  is  experiencing  a  great  expansion.  Many,  especially  in  the 
country,  are  flocking  into  the  churches  or  into  vast  open  air  con¬ 
gregations,  to  hear  the  local  or  travelling  evangelists.  Some  of 
these  latter  are  Czech-Americans  who  have  returned  to  the  land 
of  their  fathers,  recognizing  the  unexcelled  opportunity  for  Chris¬ 
tian  teachers.  But  pastors,  equipment,  churches,  and  money  are 
woefully  inadequate. 

Barely  two  years  old,  this  great  movement  of  the  new  Czecho¬ 
slovak  Church  is  rapidly  spreading.  It  is  a  movement  away  from 
Rome.  It  believes  in  the  mass  in  Czech;  in  communication  in 
both  kinds;  in  the  marriage  of  priests;  in  native  archbishop  and 
bishops;  in  local  lay  self-government  and  choice  of  priests.  Its 
present  membership  is  estimated  at  a  minimum  of  a  quarter  of  a 
million.  Its  first  national  convention  this  spring  did  not  fix  the 
details  of  church  organization.  What  form  that  will  take  is  yet 
uncertain.  There  are  no  bishops  or  official  heads.  Two  former 
Catholic  priests  are  leading  the  movement.  One  element  in  the 
church  has  religious-political  aims ;  the  other  is  influenced  only  by 
a  burning  desire  for  vital  spiritual  reform  and  return  to  the  sim¬ 
plicity  of  the  early  church  and  to  the  obedience  and  authority  of 
the  Bible.  At  one  time  the  possibility  of  affiliation  with  the 
Anglican  Church  loomed  large  Later  affiliation  with  the  Greek 
Orthodox  Church  was  unofficially  announced,  then  denied.  As  yet 
nothing  has  been  done.  The  first  Christian  missionaries  to  Moravia 
and  Bohemia,  Cyril  and  Methodius,  were  Greek  Orthodox,  and 
there  is  a  real  leaning  toward  this  church.  By  a  governmental 
agreement  the  Roman  Catholics  share  their  churches  alternately 
with  this  new  church. 

The  moment  is  surely  ripe  for  a  great  spiritual  movement. 
No  one  seems  certain  what  group  will  lead  the  way.  Many  people 


12 


hope  in  the  Czechoslovak  Church.  History  holds  the  people  back 
from  adopting  with  immediate  enthusiasm  any  new  or  untried  or¬ 
ganization  or  any  older  one  that  may  have  been  intolerant.  .  . 
Because  of  historical  reasons  and  long-standing  prejudices  it  seems 
best  to  adopt  the  attitude  of  the  Czechoslovak  Student  Renaissance 
which  states  that  it  is  affiliated  officially  with  no  church  but  stands 
ready  to  help  any  and  all  vital  Christian  movements  in  the  country. 
The  student  movement  and  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association 
can  only  succeed  by  maintaining  their  inter-dominational,  extra¬ 
confessional  character. 

The  religious  program  of  the  Association  is  practically  un¬ 
limited  because  there  is  in  the  country  almost  no  real  religious  edu¬ 
cation  centering  around  the  life  and  teachings  of  Christ.  If  the 
Association  limits  itself  to  a  non-confessional  presentation  of 
Christ  it  will  never,  by  its  own  fault,  get  into  church  troubles  and 
will  yet  aid  and  supplement  all  vital  Christian  movements.  It 
should  stand  for  what  it  really  is — a  lay,  non-confessional,  Chris¬ 
tian  organization,  limited  by  no  frontiers  of  confession,  class,  or 
age;  touching,  affecting,  and  changing  the  lives  of  men  and  boys, 
and  whole-heartedly  helping  sincere  Christian  movements  and 
efforts,  and  leading  its  members  into  service  for  others  in  whatever 
organized  channels  exist,  that  are  truly  Christian  and  come  near  to 
meeting  the  needs  of  the  individual  involved. 

Huntley  Dupre. 


Village  Churches 

.  .  .  Just  a  few  typical  instances. — Here  is  the  village  of 

C - .  The  history  of  this  village  goes  back  seven  hundred 

years.  Almost  half  its  population  is  in  the  United  States.  Cen¬ 
turies  ago  it  was  a  stronghold  of  Hussites  and  Bohemian  Brethren. 
The  chalice,  the  emblem  of  their  Protestant  faith,  may  still  be  seen 
upon  the  old  town  church.  But  this  is  far  off  history.  The  spirit 
of  the  Czech  Brethren  has  long  since  been  “reformed.”  Under  one 
hundred  and  sixty  years  of  bitterest  and  crudest  persecution  five 
generations  have  been  born  and  reared.  But  war  has  brought 
something  strange  among  the  people.  Four  months  ago  a  mass 
meeting  was  called  by  the  League  for  Enlightenment.  Three  men 
were  invited  to  speak.  One  represented  free  thought,  one  the  new 
national  church,  and  one  the  Czech  Brethren.  The  Czech  Brethren 
won  the  day.  A  church  of  three  hundred  members  was  organized. 
They  have  no  building  and  meet  in  the  inn  hall  every  Sunday. 
Once  a  month  a  pastor  comes  from  Prague  and  once  a  month  the 
Pilsen  pastor  serves  them.  The  number  has  grown  to  five  hundred. 

13 


In  Rakovnik  the  story  is  the  same  with  figures  doubled  and 
the  Czechoslovak  Church  substituted  for  Czech  Brethren.  What 
a  challenge  to  the  Czech  Brethren  with  a  score  of  vacant  pulpits 
and  three  men  studying  for  the  ministry!  What  a  challenge  for 
the  Association  to  put  in  its  best  efforts  for  the  moral  and  spiritual 
upbuilding  of  the  youth,  the  hope  of  the  new  republic !  In  every 
village  the  same  cry  is  heard.  It  is  fitly  expressed  by  a  conscien¬ 
tious  Catholic  priest  who  said  to  me  in  tones  of  despair :  “I  have 
been  in  this  village  thirteen  years  and  have  done  all  I  could,  and 
yet  I  confess  with  shame  the  morality  of  our  young  people  has 
gone  to  the  dogs.” 

One  Sunday  morning  I  was  invited  to  speak  to  the  Rural  Re¬ 
publican  party  on  American  agriculture  and  ideals.  I  emphasized 
the  fact  that  democracy,  progress,  and  prosperity  must  be  based  on 
true  character  and  true  character  on  true  religion.  The  professor 
of  the  agricultural  school  said:  “Those  were  golden  words,  our 
needs  are  many  but  our  greatest  and  sorest  need  is  character.  I 
agree  that  it  must  be  based  on  Christ,  but  it  must  be  a  different 
Christ  than  we  have  known  heretofore.” 

Eight  days  were  spent  surveying  the  environs  of  three  Pro¬ 
testant  churches  in  Eastern  Czechy.  The  church  in  O - ,  hav¬ 

ing  a  membership  of  twelve  hundred,  has  but  few  families  in  the 
town,  while  the  rest  are  scattered  over  thirty  villages.  There  are 
usually  no  more  than  eight  Protestant  families  in  such  a  village  and 

many  have  intermarried  with  Catholics.  The  church  at  C - 

has  a  membership  of  eighteen  hundred  and  is  perhaps  the  finest 
Protestant  church  in  Czechy.  Its  membership  is  spread  over 
eighty-three  villages  and  the  fine  old  pastor,  worn  out  with  many 
duties,  said  rather  pitifully :  “I  have  been  here  thirty-three  years, 
and  have  not  been  able  to  visit  some  of  my  villages  yet,  except  for 
occasional  funerals.”  He  added  pathetically,  “If  I  were  a  young 
man  now  I  would  organize  my  work  in  a  different  way.”  I  visited 
some  of  these  distant  villages,  where  Protestant  members  live,  but 
found  no  Sunday  school,  no  young  people’s  society,  and  in  fact  not 
much  of  anything  that  might  have  any  vital  influence  upon  the 

village  life.  While  in  C -  itself  there  is  a  Sunday  school  and 

young  people’s  society,  and  some  fine  cultured  Christian  men  and 
women,  the  folks  in  the  far  off  villages  are  woefully  neglected. 

We  have  been  dealing  in  the  Bible  class  with  the  great  funda¬ 
mentals  of  the  Christian  religion,  the  nature  and  character  of 
God,  of  Christ,  and  the  meaning  of  faith.  Before  we  began  these 
discussions  I  requested  the  boys  to  write  down  their  conception  of 
God  and  of  Christ.  Of  thirty-two  young  men  one  was  an  atheist. 
Two  had  the  Christian  conception  of  God,  while  twenty-nine  be- 


14 


lieved  in  God  as  the  original  cause  of  the  forces  of  nature  who  as 
Supreme  Intelligence  has  set  in  motion  all  these  laws  that  govern 
the  visible  universe.  “But  since  these  laws  are  now  taking  care  of 
the  universe  God  has  nothing  else  to  do.”  Only  eight  acknowl¬ 
edged  accountability  to  God.  Only  one  did  not  believe  in  the  his¬ 
torical  Jesus.  Only  two  acknowledged  his  Saviorhood  and  Div¬ 
inity.  The  rest  said  that  he  was  an  exceptional  character,  a  good, 
moral  man,  a  poet,  a  genius  who  did  for  religion  what  other  men 
have  done  for  art  and  literature  and  statecraft.  But  since  religion 
is  at  present  rather  a  dead  issue,  unpopular  because  the  church 
has  become  discredited,  therefore  it  is  really  not  worth  a  young 
man’s  time  to  pay  any  attention  to  it. 

Recently  we  called  a  meeting  of  the  wise  men  of  the  city  to 
consider  with  them  the  great  problems  of  the  boys  work  in  the 
community.  The  city  counsel  chamber  was  given  us  for  this  meet¬ 
ing,  showing  that  some  men  at  least  are  beginning  to  realize  the 
importance  and  the  mission  of  the  Association  work.  The  dis¬ 
cussion  was  serious  in  tone  and  cleared  away  many  misconceptions 
for  the  men.  It  prepared  a  way  for  more  practical  efforts  which 
we  hope  to  put  forth  in  the  near  future. 

One  Sunday  at  the  earnest  request  of  a  truly  consecrated 
priest  of  the  Czechoslovak  Church  an  Association  secretary  spoke 
to  delegates  from  fifteen  villages  on  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
Christian  giving  and  helped  the  priest  to  organize  a  financial  cam¬ 
paign  for  his  salary  and  current  expenses.  This  was  altogether  a 
new  adventure,  since  the  priest’s  salary  heretofore  was  collected 
in  taxes  and  paid  by  the  State.  Now  that  the  priest,  together  with 
his  whole  flock,  has  joined  the  new  national  church  even  though  he 
works  four  times  as  much,  having  full  charge  of  fifteen  villages 
with  six  thousand  members  and  the  religious  education  of  two 
thousand  children,  the  State  has  not  only  refused  to  pay  his  salary, 
but  is  turning  him  out  of  the  parsonage  he  has  occupied  for  twelve 
years.  At  the  appeal  of  the  secretary  the  delegates  not  only  agreed 
to  raise  the  salary  for  this  truly  heroic  man,  but  have  voted  to  in¬ 
crease  it  to  almost  double  the  amount. 

An  article  about  the  new  national  religious  movement  pub¬ 
lished  in  a  Czech-American  paper  cited  a  similar  case  of  an  heroic 
priest  working  hard  and  earnestly  without  definite  salary.  A  good 
brother  in  the  United  States  was  touched  and  sent  fifty  dollars. 
“Do  you  mean  to  say,”  asks  the  astonished  priest,  “that  a  Christian 
Protestant  man  in  America  has  taken  interest  in  me  and  my  work 
here  and  is  sending  this  as  a  gift  of  love?”  When  I  assured  him 
that  such  was  the  case  he  declared  with  deliberation Then  you 
have  a  different  type  of  Christianity  in  America,  for  I  cannot  con- 

15 


ceive  of  one  of  our  men,  no  matter  how  wealthy,  sending  money 
in  such  a  generous  way  to  a  foreign  country  to  a  man  and  to  a 
cause  altogether  strange  to  him.  That  is  an  unheard  of  thing  here.” 

V.  Vavrina. 

Athletics  for  Soldier  and  Scholar 

4 

The  contribution  of  the  Association  to  the  army  of  Czecho¬ 
slovakia  through  its  department  of  physical  education  has  been 
real  and  most  opportune.  At  the  period  of  organization  of  its  new 
army,  there  was  a  special  need  for  this  recreational  program,  for, 
though  the  army  was  young,  most  of  its  soldiers  were  veterans  of 
from  five  to  seven  years  and  were  stale  in  service. 

A  short  course  training  school  was  organized  for  instruction 
in  recreational  and  mass  games.  Seventy-nine  men  completed  this 
course,  and  these  men  were  hurried  out  to  train  other  leaders. 
Later,  the  Ministry  of  National  Defense  requested  the  services  of 
a  specialist  to  conduct  a  training  school  in  American  athletics  and 
coaching  methods.  Six-weeks  courses  were  organized  for  this 
purpose,  which  were  attended  by  seventy-two  military  officers. 
At  the  close  of  these  courses  the  Ministry  of  National  Defense  or¬ 
ganized  its  own  school  of  physical  education,  and  in  this  many 
of  the  men  trained  in  our  school  are  now  instructors. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1920  the  Czechoslovak  Sports  Union 
requested  the  Association  to  loan  its  athletic  director  to  act  as 
general  director  of  the  preparations  for  the  Olympic  games.  This 
request  was  granted,  and  in  addition  the  athletic  director  was  coach 
of  the  track  squad.  This  brought  us  into  close  touch  with  the 
civilian  population.  In  every  case  we  had  the  finest  cooperation 
with  our  program  and  thorough  appreciation  of  our  services,  both 
in  the  promotion  of  play  life  and  in  the  introduction  of  advanced 
technical  and  specialized  coaching  methods. 

By  this  work  for  the  Olympics  we  were  able  to  step  in  at  the 
flood  tide  of  interest,  for  the  games  gave  to  these  people  the 
first  opportunity  in  three  hundred  years  to  be  represented  in 
international  contests  as  an  independent  nation. 

At  the  completion  of  the  Olympic  work  last  fall  we  were  peti¬ 
tioned  by  the  Czechoslovak  Student  Union,  which  includes  students 
of  the  whole  republic,  to  extend  athletic  activities  to  the  universities 
and  schools  of  the  republic.  From  the  standpoint  of  rendering 
service  where  most  needed  in  the  civilian  population,  this  is  now 
our  most  important  project.  We  have  found  no  place  where  we  feel 
that  a  wholesome  sport  program  will  be  of  greater  service  than 
in  these  school  and  university  circles.  A  man  with  a  degree  in 


16 


this  country  is  supposed  to  be  a  pale-faced,  esthetic  creature.  The 
great  majority  of  these  graduates  are  not  only  physically  unfit, 
but  even  more  deplorable  is  their  mental  attitude  that  any  work 
requiring  physical  effort  is  beneath  them.  Their  education  seems 
to  make  them  apart  from,  rather  than  a  part  of,  the  world.  There 
is  little  connection  between  the  knowing  and  doing.  We  feel  that 
a  strong,  democratic  sport  program  will  at  least  in  a  measure  supply 
this  missing  link.  ...  We  have  confined  our  work  to  the  high 
schools  this  spring,  feeling  that  the  planting  must  be  done  there 
to  insure  a  healthy  growth  in  the  universities,  later.  Also  the  high 
school  is  close  to  the  lower  grades,  and  there  its  sport  activities  will 
bear  fruit.  The  response  we  are  having  in  this  work,  in  which  the 
Student  Renaissance  Movement  is  cooperating,  is  most  encourag¬ 
ing.  Recently  all  the  schools  in  one  of  the  cities  were  closed  so 
that  the  students  might  hear  our  lecturer  on  American  ideals  and 
standards  in  sport.  The  lecture  had  to  be  repeated  in  the  evening 
so  that  all  could  have  the  opportunity  of  hearing  it. 

Just  now,  in  cooperation  with  the  Young  Women’s  Christian 
Association,  we  are  finishing  our  third  model  playground.  The 
playgrounds  are  located  in  the  three  leading  towns  of  the  republic — 
Prague,  Brno,  and  Bratislava.  This  is  an  investment  which  will 
bring  tremendous  dividends  in  the  awakening  of  the  municipal 
consciousness  on  the  subject  of  responsibility  to  provide  normal, 
healthy,  supervised  play  life  for  its  children. 

I.  A.  Pipal. 

The  Sokols 

Feeling  that  the  original  sokol  society  was  dominated  almost 
entirely  by  men  whose  political  ideals  are  much  less  liberal  than 
their  own,  the  Social  Democratic  party  has  seen  fit  to  establish  its 
own  gymnastic  organization.  Representing  as  it  does  the  largest 
party  in  the  republic,  the  society  began  its  existence  with  a  mem¬ 
bership  almost  as  large  as  that  of  the  original  society.  During  the 
month  of  June  the  new  society  staged  its  first  meet  on  the  sokol 
field  erected  in  Prague  a  year  ago  by  the  old  organization.  While 
the  performance  lacked  some  of  the  finish  and  the  perfection  of 
organization  which  were  the  marvel  of  everybody  at  last  year’s 
performance,  the  exhibition  was  largely  attended  and  is  to  be 
highly  commended  for  its  fine  showing  at  the  very  beginning  of  its 

existence. 

On  the  very  eve  of  the  Social  Democratic  gymnastic  congress 
came  the  separation  of  the  left  wing  of  the  Social  Democratic 
party  from  the  party  proper  and  the  organization  of  the  resigning 

17 


members  into  the  Communist  party  on  the  platform  laid  down  by 
the  Third  International  of  Moscow.  Not  to  be  outdone  by  the 
Social  Democratic  party  the  new  party  at  once  engaged  one  of 
the  sport  parks  of  the  city  and  staged  its  own  gymnastic  perform¬ 
ance.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  Association  all  this  is  of  interest 
since  there  no  longer  exists  the  one  all  inclusive  national  athletic 
organization.  Where  a  year  ago  there  was  one  society  there  are 
now  three  societies  all  determined  to  make  as  wide  as  possible  the 
breach  that  separates  them.  There  never  was  a  greater  need  for 
a  powerful  unifying  agency  like  the  Association  than  at  this 
moment. 

W.  W.  Gethman 

Perhaps  the  most  encouraging  response  which  we  have  met 
in  our  civilian  work  has  come  from  the  sokols.  This  great  gym¬ 
nastic  organization  of  over  four  hundred  thousand  members,  was 
at  first  inclined  to  look  upon  the  Association  as  a  heretic  in  physi¬ 
cal  education,  and  a  possible  rival  to  its  program.  We  are  happy 
to  say  that  we  now  have  the  best  possible  cooperation  from  them. 
The  Association  has  recently  completed  a  four  weeks’  training 
course  in  American  games  and  technique  of  coaching  methods  in 
track  and  field  sports,  which  was  requested  by  the  sokol  leaders. 
The  demands  which  are  coming  to  us  from  this  organization  for 
lectures  on  American  ideas  and  ideals  in  physical  education  and 
sport  are  so  numerous  that  we  cannot  begin  to  meet  them.  This 
organization  whose  real  motive  was  military  and  patriotic  was 
compelled,  due  to  lack  of  playgrounds  and  to  Austrian  rule,  to 
do  most  of  its  work  in  secret  and  thus  was  driven  indoors ;  and  its 
system  of  physical  education  naturally  developed  along  gymnastic, 
heavy  apparatus,  and  mechanical  lines.  Its  semi-military  purpose 
induced  a  discipline  too  rigid  for  the  spontaneous  and  natural  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  play  instinct,  so  that  there  was  need  to  stress  the 
idea  that  mechanical  physical  training  and  military  discipline  had 
its  day  when  the  people  were  simply  supposed  to  obey,  but  that 
in  a  democracy  a  child  needs  in  addition  to  calisthenics,  drills,  and 
gymnastic  training  with  their  discipline,  recreational  games,  play 
life,  and  competitive  sport  with  their  self-discipline. 

The  people  of  this  country  are  naturally  sport  loving,  but 
three  hundred  years  of  Austrian  rule  have  well  nigh  crushed  out 
all  play  instinct,  and  greatly  dulled  and  deadened  the  spirit  of 
fair  play.  However,  we  have  found  a  hearty  response  to  the  ideal 
of  clean  sport  which  makes  for  citizenship  and  democratic  ideas 
and  character. 

I.  A.  Pipal. 


18 


The  Studensky  Domov 


■JE 


\ 


THE  UKRAINIAN  PRISONERS 

A  Spiritual  People 

The  Ukrainians  are  the  most  religious  of  the  Slav  nations. 

The  greater  part  of  them,  namely,  those  who  form  Great  Ukraine, 
which  formerly  belonged  to  the  Russian  Empire,  are  Greek  Ortho¬ 
dox:  the  other  part  from  East  Galicia,  which  was  a  province  of 
Austro-Hungary,  are  Uniat  Catholic.  But  remarkable  is  the  fol¬ 
lowing:  the  Russian  Orthodox  Church  was  formerly  too  largely 
identified  with  the  Czar,  and  the  Russian  autocracy  and  plutocracy ; 
the  Czar  was,  in  the  belief  of  wide  masses  of  Russian  people,  the 
head  of  the  Russian  Church  and  representative  of  God  on  the 
earth,  and  therefore  he  was  an  idol  to  the  Russian  pepole  who 
adored  God  in  the  person  of  Czar.  A  best  proof  of  this  is  the 
Russian  saying:  “God  in  Heaven  and  the  Czar  on  the  earth.” 

The  Russian  God  was  a  protector  of  the  Czar  and  the  privileged 
classes,  and  therefore  we  meet  in  Russia  the  curious  adherence  of 
wide  masses  of  the  people  to  the  “Czar  Batushka” — the  Dear 
Father.  .  .  . 

In  strange  contrariety  to  these  beliefs  of  Russian  people  is  * 

the  religion  of  the  Ukrainians.  This  religion  is  original  and  com¬ 
plete  naturally.  God  is  the  Lord  of  the  world,  and  Father  of  the 
poor,  not  a  monarch  protecting  only  monarchs.  The  Virgin  Mary 
is  the  mother  of  the  unprivileged,  poor,  illiterate,  Ukrainian  peasant 
who  pray  to  God  in  the  moment  of  oppression  and  depression. 

God’s  mother,  the  Virgin  Mary,  is  mother  of  every  human  mother. 

She  is  also  mother  of  every  baby.  The  good  father,  holy  Nicholas, 
likes  kind  and  poor  children,  and  Saint  George,  the  patron  of  the 
oppressed  Ukrainian  people,  favoured  them  in  the  two  wars  for 
freedom  and  liberty.  God’s  will  is  that  all  people  be  equal  and 
brothers.  This  belief  we  can  find  in  the  whole  Ukrainian  history 
and  in  popular  traditions,  customs,  and  songs.  Many  Ukrainian 
writers  and  poets,  as  Shevchenko,  Franke,  Kuleesh,  Drahominiff, 
Shashkavytch,  and  others,  have  diligently  studied  the  Bible,  as  we 
see  in  their  works. 


An  Association  School 

The  demand  of  the  Ukrainian  prisoners  for  an  Association 
training  course  was  first  made  in  the  summer  of  1920.  The  in¬ 
terned  Ukrainians  had  received  the  benefits  of  the  Association  and 


19 


considered  that  it  would  be  a  desirable  institution  to  help  solve 
the  social  and  religious  problems  of  their  country.  In  spite  of 
the  repeated  calls  it  was  not  possible  to  grant  this  request  until 
the  January  of  1921.  The  object  of  the  course  was  to  give  some 
carefully  selected  men  training  and  instruction  in  Association 
history,  principles,  program,  methods,  and  ideals  which  would 
enable  them,  upon  their  return  to  their  country,  to  start  the  move¬ 
ment  in  Ukraine.  There  are  fifty-three  men  registered  for  the 
course,  of  whom  thirty-eight  were  commissioned  officers  ranking 
from  lieutenant  to  colonel.  Fourteen  are  university  men  and  all 
but  four  had  more  than  a  common  school  education.  The  men 
have  averaged  six  years  and  ten  months  in  military  service.  Two- 
thirds  are  Uniats  and  the  rest  Russian  Orthodox.  Because  of 
heavy  military  duties  some  of  the  men  have  had  to  drop  out  of 
the  course.  .  .  .  Interviews  were  given  to  each  man  before  the 
regular  program  of  the  school  was  started.  During  these  inter¬ 
views  much  information  was  gained  which  enabled  the  directors 
to  adapt  the  course  to  the  needs  of  the  students,  both  collectively 
and  individually.  Everything  was  planned  with  the  status  of  the 
Ukrainians  in  mind. 

This  brief  report  does  not  permit  a  full  description  of  the 
spiritual  hour.  The  course  was  conducted  on  the  problem  dis- 
cussional  method.  A  third  of  the  students  were  used  as  a  normal 
training  group.  These  prepared  guiding  questions  for  conduct¬ 
ing  the  discussion  and  the  material  thus  prepared  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  class  a  day  in  advance  of  the  discussion.  The 
men  were  soon  able  to  furnish  their  own  leaders.  They  showed 
great  growth  and  were  eager  to  grasp  the  truth.  Twelve  different 
men  acted  as  leaders  and  three  as  leaders  of  the  normal  group. 
The  leaders  served  two  mornings  in  succession  and  profited  during 
the  second  morning  by  the  criticism  of  their  work  of  the  first 
morning.  Twenty-eight  problems  were  selected  by  the  men  as 
being  vital  to  their  lives  in  camp.  The  continuation  of  the  course 
and  its  expansion  for  the  soldiers  in  camp  is  assured. 

The  development  of  the  men  was  what  one  would  expect  of 
those  seeking  anything  which  offered  them  a  plan  for  rendering 
service  to  their  beloved  and  despoiled  country.  To  these  men  who 
had  seen  such  a  long  term  of  military  service  and  the  restraints 
of  an  internment  camp,  the  course  came  as  a  ray  of  sunshine  in  a 
dark  dungeon.  The  men  were  highly  intellectual.  Some  had  re¬ 
ceived  their  Ph.  D/s  and  in  some  manner  had  managed  to  keep 
bright  in  spite  of  the  strain  of  war  and  the  internment  camp.  It  is 
certain  that  of  the  thirty-eight  men  who  finished  the  course  there 
will  be  a  minimum  of  five  or  six  outstanding  leaders.  Ten  expect 


20 


to  return  to  university  or  school  and  are  determined  to  carry  the 
benefits  of  the  Association  to  the  students  of  Ukraine.  A  number 
are  expecting  to  teach  upon  their  return  and  they  are  not  only  in¬ 
terested  in  the  student  work  but  also  the  boys  work.  The  majority 
will  likely  return  to  small  towns  or  villages.  To  them  some  phase 
of  the  county  or  community  work  made  the  greatest  appeal.  On 
one  thing  they  are  an  absolute  unit  and  that  is  they  will  carry  the 
benefits  of  the  Association  movement  to  their  people. 

The  immediate  action  to  which  the  students  of  the  course  are 
putting  their  new  found  knowledge  is  the  thing  which  gives  the 
directors  the  greatest  satisfaction.  Under  the  able  leadership  of 
Tymo  Barish  the  spiritual  hour  program  is  being  spread  to  all 
the  barracks  in  the  camp  with  one  of  the  students  in  charge  of  a 
group  in  each  barrack. 

The  very  soul  of  Ukrainian  life  was  revealed  at  the  last  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  course.  May  we  attempt  to  visualize  the  experience 
which  was  one  that  comes  rarely  in  a  life-time.  It  is  only  in  this 
experience  that  one  may  realize  the  spirit  of  the  Ukrainian  men. 
We  entered  the  once  bare  army  hut  which  has  been  transformed  by 
the  exquisite  paintings  of  old  Ukrainian  art  in  the  national  colors 
of  heavenly  blue  and  gold.  The  beams  and  posts  were  covered  with 
paintings,  designs,  and  brackets  of  living  flowers.  For  the  special 
event  the  stage  was  decorated  with  evergreen  plants  and  given  a 
touch  of  color  by  the  beautiful  potted  flowers.  In  the  center  of  the 
stage  and  to  the  rear,  between  two  large  trees,  was  a  life-sized 
picture  of  Sir  George  Williams,  the  work  of  an  inspired  artist,  a 
student  of  the  course.  With  only  a  book  print  for  an  original, 
he  had  not  only  produced  a  wonderful  likeness  of  the  founder  of 
the  Association,  but  seemed  to  have  caught  the  innermost  spirit 
of  the  man,  so  that  one  may  well  believe  that  the  very  soul  of  Sir 
George  Williams  was  in  the  meeting  and  encouraged  the  men  to 
do  and  to  dare  for  Jesus  Christ  and  humanity.  In  such  an  atmos¬ 
phere  one  sensed  the  depth  and  breadth  of  intellect  of  the  Ukrainian 
speakers,  experienced  their  emotions,  and  comprehended  their 
romantic  history.  The  hall  was  packed  by  soldiers,  officers  and 
invited  guests,  among  whom  were  General  and  Madam  Kurmano- 
vitch,  and  the  official  representatives  of  the  Czech  troops.  .  .  . 

The  solemn  moment  of  the  evening  came  when  the  students 
of  the  course  stepped  forward  to  receive  their  graduation  certifi¬ 
cates.  The  director  of  the  course  made  a  few  remarks  in  which 
he  pointed  out  the  privilege  the  men  had  had  in  studying  while 
they  were  in  exile,  and  again  their  unprecedented  position  as 
representatives  of  their  nation  to  lead  their  fellow  countrymen  in 
a  new  age  of  Christian  thought  and  action.  He  wished  for  them 

21 


that  each  might  return  to  Ukraine  as  did  their  Christian  leader  of 
the  tenth  century,  Vladimir  the  Great.  Then  in  the  name  of  the 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  and  in  honor  of  Christ’s  ser- 
ice  for  which  the  Association  was  called  into  being,  he  presented 
the  certificates,  tied  with  the  colors  of  Ukraine,  sky  blue  and  gold. 

I.  F.  Machotka. 

BOYS 

Making  Friends  of  the  Magyars 

...  We  visited  other  points  but  the  next  of  importance  from 
the  standpoint  of  boys  work  was  Komarno.  Here  we  found  a  lively 
interest  on  the  part  of  some  Magyar  boys  who  were  being  led  by  a 
Benedictine  priest,  a  teacher.  This  priest  has  a  real  spirit  of  ser¬ 
vice  and,  though  greatly  handicapped,  is  doing  a  remarkable  piece 
of  work  with  a  large  group  of  boys.  They  call  themselves  scouts 
but  they  are  not  connected  with  any  existing  organization.  Among 
the  number  were  not  only  Catholics,  but  Jews  and  Protestants  as 
well.  His  groups  are  formed  without  regard  to  politics,  social  dis- 
'  tinction,  or  confession.  Because  they  are  Magyar,  they  feel  the 
Czechoslovak  government  distrusts  them  and  their  motives.  They 
are  not  allowed  the  privileges  of  other  scouts.  They  believe  the 
Association  can  bring  about  a  better  understanding.  I  think  they 
are  right.  Since  the  revolution  of  October,  1918,  the  Magyars 
have  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  splendid  building  used 
as  an  Association  hut  at  Komarno,  as  it  was  previously  an  officers’ 
club  for  the  Magyar  army,  and  the  Magyars  consider  themselves 
oppressed  by  the  new  Czechoslovak  government.  However,  in 
about  a  week  after  our  visit  these  young  Magyars  with  their  leader 
began  to  attend  the  Association  and  are  now  preparing  a  play  to 
present  to  the  soldiers.  We  have  invited  them  to  attend  the 
national  boys  camp  and  they  will  come  unless  some  outside  pres¬ 
sure  forbids  them.  We  put  this  leader  in  touch  with  some  valuable 
assistance  for  which  all  seemed  deeply  grateful.  .  .  . 

Our  outdoor  athletic  program  has  bumped  hard  against  the 
winter  weather  and  suffered  almost  a  total  paralysis.  Yet  the  boys 
need  the  exercise  and  recreation  not  less  but  more  during  the 
months  of  winter  seclusion,  and  we  need  it  also  to  keep  up  their 
interest.  But  where  can  we  get  a  suitable  hall  without  paying  an 
exorbitant  price  for  it  ?  There  is  a  gymnasium  in  the  Realka  school 
that  is  not  used  in  the  evening.  But  who  will  presume  to  secure 
its  use  for  a  local  club  work?  It  is  a  state  institution,  hoary  with 
age  and  dignity,  presided  over  by  a  real  old-type  dignitary,  who 
has  guarded  it  jealously  for  many  years,  until  he  has  developed  a 
feeling  of  ownership.  The  two  sport  clubs,  one  having  a  member- 


22 


ship  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  and  wielding  a  considerable  influ¬ 
ence  in  the  city,  have  never  dreamed  that  such  a  thing  was  possible. 
They  suffer  untold  damage  to  their  work  each  year  because  they 
have  no  suitable  winter  quarters,  while  this  fine  hall  stands  idle 
every  night.  It  was  not  a  holiday  task  to  persuade  the  old  princi¬ 
pal  that  a  state  can  afford  to  loan  its  institution  for  sport  and  play 
to  conserve  the  health  and  character  of  its  boys.  Nor  was  it  easy 
to  convince  him  that  the  oakwood  wax  floor,  the  pride  of  the  in¬ 
stitution,  isn’t  half  so  valuable  to  the  state  as  the  physical  and 
moral  development  of  its  boys  and  young  men.  But  finally  he  did 
see  the  point,  and  our  boys  are  eagerly  anticipating  the  pleasure  of 
playing  volley  ball  and  basket  ball  in  the  gymnasium  as  soon  as  the 
wire  netting  is  ready  for  the  windows. 

V.  Vavrina. 

Prague  and  Kladno 

The  boys  work  in  Prague,  established  towards  the  end  of 
April,  is  getting  on  well.  In  spite  of  many  difficulties  it  will  be 
possible  to  continue,  if  there  be  only  a  bit  of  good  will  and  patience. 
At  the  beginning  the  organization  counted  twenty-one  members, 
boys  from  eleven  to  fifteen,  and  in  the  short  time  the  number  has 
increased  to  sixty-six.  These  boys  are  being  educated  along  the 
physical,  intellectual,  spiritual,  and  social  line.  We  arrange  ex¬ 
cursions,  we  have  had  three  character  talks,  one  Bible  class,  two 
historical  lectures,  and  one  public  athletic  meet,  which  had  an  enor¬ 
mous  moral  value.  Forty-five  boys  put  on  American  games,  base¬ 
ball,  boxing,  and  light  athletics.  The  financial  return  was  but 
small,  as  the  fee  was  voluntary,  but  it  was  a  pleasure  to  see  the 
boys  competing  like  good  sportsmen.  We  have  enlisted  several 
officers  for  the  boys  work,  and  all  of  them  are  greatly  interested. 
The  boys  are  permitted  to  play  social  games  in  the  reading  room  of 
the  hut  each  afternoon,  a  plan  which  meets  with  great  enthusiasm. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  month  the  Association  was  invited  to 
take  part  in  the  meeting  of  the  committee  for  young  people  of  Pil- 
sen,  and  there  it  was  decided  to  start  negotiations  for  the  purchase 
of  two  wooden  barracks  belonging  to  the  Skoda  factories,  and  to 
establish  there  a  home  for  youth  after  the  fashion  of  an  Association 
hut.  The  Association  boys  have  been  asked  by  the  committee  of 
the  Mothers  Home  for  Boys  to  show  some  of  their  games  at  a 
feast  of  this  organization.  We  shall  send  there  three  teams.  The 
army  work  goes  on  very  well.  Our  dramatic  director  takes  care 
that  the  programs  consist  only  of  good  plays.  There  were  only  a 
few  lectures  delivered  at  the  hot  season,  but  our  athletic  program  is 
entirely  complete.  The  home  itself  is  in  very  bad  condition,  the 


23 


roof  is  almost  ruined.  It  has  especially  suffered  during  the  last 
rains.  We  have  great  difficulties  with  athletic  material.  The  sol¬ 
diers  think  it  is  only  for  them  and  complain  of  the  boys  using  it.  A 
special  room  and  social  games  for  boys  would  spare  us  many  mis¬ 
understandings. 

J.  F.  Kalzman. 

Another  place  worthy  of  special  mention  is  Kladno,  the  strong¬ 
hold  of  the  Communist  party  in  Bohemia,  where  we  have  a  splendid 
growing  activity  among  the  working  boys  connected  with  the  iron 
and  mining  industries.  Our  boys  work  executive  is  a  volunteer 
worker,  superintendent  of  the  warehouses  connected  with  the  iron 
works.  He  is  an  able  leader  and,  although  he  has  a  wife  and  three 
children  and  does  not  draw  a  large  salary,  he  gives  ten  per  cent  of 
his  income  and  all  of  his  free  time  to  work  with  the  boys.  He  has 
with  the  help  of  the  boys  themselves  fixed  up  a  club  room  in  the 
cellar  of  his  own  home,  where  they  have  their  meetings.  The  boys 
take  great  interest  in  this  as  it  represents  their  own  efforts  and  the 
secretary  gives  them  a  voice  in  the  management  of  all  of  their 
affairs. 

Preparatory  work  for  the  first  camp  is  going  on.  Those  not 
acquainted  with  the  situation  of  boys  work  in  general  in  this  coun¬ 
try  will  find  it  surprising  that  the  camp  is  so  hard  a  thing  to  arrange. 
But  then  it  is  necessary  to  remind  them  that  this  camp  will  be  the 
first  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  Neither  the  grown  people  nor  the 
boys  know  what  a  real  camp  is,  what  it  should  be  like  and  what  re¬ 
sults  it  ought  to  give.  To  help  them  see  all  this  takes  lots  of 
thinking,  lots  of  work,  and  advice  from  all  sides.  In  camping 
Czechoslovakia  is  at  least  fifty  years  behind  the  United  States  and 
some  other  countries.  I  made  several  trips  to  different  parts  of 
the  country  to  see  how  the  different  camps  were  carried  on  and 
saw  something  like  twenty-five  camps  without  any  resemblance.  It 
was  a  real  school  for  me,  and  the  more  I  get  acquainted  with  the 
boys  work,  including  the  camps  of  other  organizations,  the  more  I 
see  how  much  of  a  help  the  Association  can  be  in  promoting  this 
work  on  the  lines  adopted  in  other  countries.  Already  now  I  may 
say  that  we  are  on  the  way  to  success. 

J.  F.  Kabrna. 

The  Camp  on  the  Sazava 

Our  main  thought  and  concern  this  month  has  been  the  nation¬ 
al  camp  for  boys  which  opened  June  20th  with  a  service  group  of 
about  thirty  who  volunteered  to  go  two  weeks  in  advance  of  the 


24 


others  to  assist  in  making  final  arrangements  for  the  official  open¬ 
ing  which  is  set  for  July  4th. 

The  camp  is  located  about  the  center  of  Bohemia,  by  the  side 
of  one  of  the  principal  rivers,  the  Sazava,  a  beautiful  winding 
stream.  The  site  is  entirely  surrounded  by  mountains,  rocks,  and 
forests  and  is  large  enough  for  tents  and  permits  also  all  the 
games  and  sports  which  include  American  baseball,  volley  ball, 
basket  ball,  cage  ball,  and  mass  games,  also  track  meets.  A  cool 
spring  affords  ample  water  for  drinking  and  cooking.  Villages  and 
castles  centuries  old  not  far  distant  from  the  camp  afford  excellent 
educational  opportunities  on  hikes.  The  entire  country  all  about 
us  is  layers  deep  in  history  and  on  our  hikes  we  study  the  customs 
as  well  as  the  history,  for  the  people  of  each  village  have  charac¬ 
teristics  all  their  own,  not  only  peculiar  to  themselves  but  which 
have  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  The 
camp  site  is  owned  by  a  Count  Sternberg  who  comes  from  an  old 
family  and  lives  in  a  fine  old  castle  in  the  village  bearing  the 
family  name,  about  a  half  hour’s  walk  away.  He  has  given  the  use 
of  the  site,  which  many  who  have  seen  it  say  is  the  best  in  the 
entire  country. 

The  camp  is  organized  after  the  plan  of  our  own  American 
camps,  the  head  of  each  department  being  responsible  for  the  time 
allotted  to  that  department.  One  of  the  special  features  of  the 
month  was  a  father  and  son  occasion  which  was  arranged  by  our 
pioneer  county  work  secretary,  Mr.  Vavrina.  The  affair  took  the 
form  of  a  social  rather  than  a  banquet,  as  the  local  committee 
thought  the  banquet  idea  impossible,  but  were  willing  to  tackle  a 
get-together  of  fathers  and  sons  after  the  plan  of  a  coffee  house 
gathering.  The  evening  was  a  great  success  and  the  gathering 
was  very  democratic.  .  .  .  Another  feature  was  a  boy’s  rally  at 
Kladno  under  the  direction  of  our  volunteer  boys’  secretary  there. 
The  purpose  of  the  rally  was  to  create  interest  and  secure  financial 
assistance  so  that  as  many  as  possible  might  have  the  privilege  of 
attending  the  camp.  The  boys,  bearing  the  American  flag,  met  the 
writer  upon  his  arrival  and  at  their  headquarters  in  the  garden  of 
their  leader  ran  off  a  program  that  would  do  credit  to  our  own 
boys  at  home.  They  are  planning  to  have  fifty  boys  in  attendance 
at  the  camp  sometime  during  the  summer. 

A.  K.  Jennings. 


25 


A  UNIVERSITY  TOWN 

Very  Plain  Living 

[The  center  for  the  thousands  of  University  students  gath¬ 
ered  at  Prague  is  the  Studensky  Domov — the  Students’  Home, 
provided  by  the  Young  Men’s  and  Young  Women’s  Christian 
Associations.] 

With  the  coming  of  the  autumn,  have  come  also  the  long 
expected  Russian  refugee-students  from  Constantinople.  The 
Czech  government  and  people,  with  a  generosity  quite  beyond 
praise,  and  almost  unknown  hitherto  among  the  nations,  have  in¬ 
vited  Russian  professors  and  university  students  to  come  to  the 
universities  to  continue  their  interrupted  studies.  Already  eleven 
hundred  and  fifty  are  here  and  soon  the  number  will  reach  twenty- 
six  hundred.  Quarters  have  been  set  aside  for  these  students  in  the 
model  working-men’s  apartments  in  Liben  near  Prague,  in  the 
former  poorhouse  in  Prague  itself,  in  Brno,  Bratislava,  and  Pri¬ 
bram.  To  find  these  quarters,  the  government  in  one  instance,  has 
dispersed  the  inmates  of  the  poorhouse  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Prague,  and  in  the  second  instance,  the  working-men  themselves 
have  voluntarily  renounced  newly  finished  and  long-waited  dwell¬ 
ings  in  favor  of  the  Russians.  This  incident  deserves  to  be  known 
everywhere.  The  quarters  of  the  working-men  at  Liben  are  model 
in  every  respect :  with  the  newest  installations  of  bath  and  running 
water,  heating,  laundries,  disinfection  plant,  cement  floors,  tiled 
walls,  and  ventilation.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  students,  and  sixty 
professors  with  their  families,  are  installed  here.  .  .  . 

That  a  country  so  small  and  already  overburdened  as  Czecho¬ 
slovakia  should  take  upon  herself  the  role  of  Good  Samaritan  in 
this  generous  and  unstinted  fashion  deserves  to  be  known  by 
richer  and  more  fortunate  countries.  This  idealism  brought  into 
every  day  affairs  of  State  is  the  result  not  merely  of  governmental 
policy,  but  of  the  desire  of  the  man-in-the-street  to  show  his  fra¬ 
ternal  feeling  and  sympathy  toward  the  sufferings  of  the  Russians. 
He  willingly  taxes  himself  to  this  end.  The  Czech  students  know 
that  they  are  being  more  and  more  overcrowded  and  made  to 
suffer  privation  for  the  students  of  a  sister  land  and  they,  too,  are 
willing.  Your  representative  has  taken  pains  to  ascertain  the 
feeling  of  the  ordinary  citizen  and  of  the  Czech  students. 

Students  everywhere  have  been  forced  to  leave  last  year’s 
quarters  for  new  which  are  even  more  crowded :  Greater  num¬ 
bers  than  ever  are  sleeping  on  floors  and  together  in  single  beds. 
The  writer  has  recently  found  five  students  who  have  been  spend- 


26 


ing  their  nights  in  the  railroad  station  and  four  others  living  at 
night  in  a  cafe  where  they  slept  on  benches  without  mattresses  or 
even  blankets.  To  add  to  the  problem,  the  mobilization  took  num¬ 
berless  beds  that  had  been  loaned  to  students  and  even  barracks  in 
which  they  were  living  had  to  be  emptied.  The  whole  matter  can 
best  be  summed  up  by  saying  that,  in  accordance  with  a  student 
survey,  in  Prague  alone  sixteen  hundred  students  go  nightly  from 
place  to  place  to  find  sleeping  quarters  either  among  friends  or 
in  some  cafe  or  waiting  room.  .  .  . 

The  Ukrainian  studends  now  studying  in  the  universities  are 
on  the  whole  earnest  and  bear  most  evident  traces  of  hardship  and 
strain.  The  way  in  which  they  are  accepting  their  difficult  lot 
and  their  many  privations,  merits  all  praise  and  every  effort  to  help 
them.  They  are  excellent  students,  well-organized,  self-respecting, 
and  make  every  effort  to  help  themselves.  This  autumn  four  hun¬ 
dred  Ukrainian  students  from  two  concentration  camps  in  Slo¬ 
vakia  have  been  permitted  by  the  Czech  government  to  come  to 
Prague  to  continue  their  studies  interrupted  these  seven  years.  One 
hundred  of  these  men  have  already  arrived,  and  are  being  given 
cheaper  meals  and  help  with  books  and  clothing  by  the  European 
Student  Relief  which  is  also  continuing  its  help  to  the  Ukrainian 
group  already  here.  It  is  hoped  that  a  governmental  gift,  similar 
to  that  offered  tq  the  Russian  refugee  students,  may  come  to  the 
Ukrainians,  for  at  present  they  are  without  any  resources  what¬ 
soever.  .  .  . 

Edith  May. 


A  Ukrainian  College  Boy 

Let  us  describe  a  typical  day  of  a  Ukrainian  student  in 
Prague.  The  student  rises  in  morning  and  dresses  himself  to  go 
to  school.  His  first  thought  is  to  put  on  as  quickly  as  possible  his 
old  worn-out  and  dirty  shirt,  the  only  one  he  possesses.  M/ere  it 
necessary  to  sew  on  a  button,  or  to  patch  a  hole  in  it,  how  could  it 
be  done?  If  the  shirt  be  dirty  and  the  landlady  does  not  see,  he 
quickly  washes  it  out,  hangs  it  on  the  window-frame,  and  either 
waits  at  home  until  it  dries,  or  puts  on  his  blouse  without  a  shirt 
and  goes  to  school.  He  takes  no  breakfast.  He  is  hungry,  but 
he  has  no  money  to  buy  one.  But  to  his  landlady,  because  he  is 
ashamed  to  own  his  poverty,  he  proudly  says  that  he  will  take  a 

breakfast  in  the  mensa. 

He  comes  to  the  school.  He  ducks  himself  in  the  corners  of 
the  hall,  not  to  show  to  his  luckier,  well-dressed  friends  his  worn- 
out  suit.  About  ten  o’clock  the  other  colleagues  take  their  second 


27 


breakfast,  which  strengthens  his  hunger,  but  he  bears  this  too. 
Twelve  o’clock,  mensa!  After  the  meal  he  goes  to  the  Studentsky 
Domov,  where  by  studying,  reading  of  newspapers,  and  conversa¬ 
tion  with  colleagues  he  forgets  for  a  while  his  misery.  After  the 
evening  meal  he  stays  in  the  Studentsky  Domov  till  he  leaves  it 
for  his  lodging.  On  his  way  he  meets  his  fellow  student  who 
has  not  possessed  even  the  five  cents  monthly  fee  needful  to  be¬ 
come  a  member  of  the  Domov.  He  has  spent  his  time,  if  happily 
it  has  been  fine  weather,  in  the  2ofin  or  Petrin  garden,  and  now  he 
also  is  going  back  to  his  lodging. 

On  the  streets  he  meets  lucky,  merry,  finely  dressed  people, 
who,  curious  and  disregarding,  stare  at  worn-out  suit  or  uniform. 
.  .  .  He  sees  the  shop-windows,  where  are  shown  pretty  clothes, 
fine  hams,  sweet  cakes.  .  .  .  He  reads  the  theatre  advertise¬ 
ments.  .  .  .  today  will  be  played  “Hamlet,”  tomorrow  “Trav- 
iata”  .  .  .  Here  a  concert,  there  a  lecture  on  Rabindranath  Tagore. 
.  .  .  But  all  this  is  nothing  to  him,  because  he  has  no  means  by 
which  to  partake  these  good  things.  He  comes  home  tired  and 
again  hungry.  And  when  he  lies  down  a  thousand  thoughts  come 
to  him. 

“What  are  the  Bolsheviks  doing  in  my  home?  How  are  my 
relatives  in  Galicia  under  the  Polish  occupation?  How  are  my 
father,  mother,  bride,  and  what  will  be  with  me?  Shall  I  be  able 
to  continue  and  to  end  my  studies?  Where  to  get  means  for  it? 
Shall  I  return  to  my  home  again?  The  winter  is  coming.  .  .  . 
Where  to  get  an  overcoat  and  warm  underwear?  Today  I  saw 
a  fine  ham!  Oh,  when  was  I  last  in  a  theatre?  I  must  shave, 
but  I  have  no  razor  and  no  money  for  a  barber.  .  .  .  The  moon 
is  shining !  I  see  there  is  somewhere  in  the  world  beauty, 
poetry,  knowledge,  and  truth,  but  where?  I  have  not  seen  these  for 
seven  years,  the  time  I  spent  amid  the  thunder  of  guns  and  in 
rivers  of  blood.  .  .  .  Shall  I  be  forced  to  take  part  in  war  again, 
and  shall  I  be  forced  to  go  to  new  battles?  Will  I  be  wounded 
and  where  wounded,  on  hand  or  breast?  .  .  .  And  how  about  my 
fatherland?  Will  it  be  free  and  independent?  When?  When 
shall  I  be  able  to  see  it  again  ?” 

A  state  of  complete  spiritual  depression  .  .  sometimes  brings 
the  Ukrainian  student  to  the  thoughts  of  .  .  self  murder  .  . 
Why?  .  .  Because  he  must  fight  for  the  most  elementary  human 
rights,  which  are  denied  him  everywhere  and  at  every  turn  of  life. 
He  must  often  hear  that  the  Ukrainians  are  no  nation.  They  share 
only  the  misery  of  the  world.  They  need  indeed  a  great  baptism 
of  heroism  to  bear  all  this  with  their  badly  shakened  nerves.  They 
have  all  seen  shocking  sights.  They  were  witnesses  of  bloody 


28 


massacres,  where  thousands  of  people,  women,  old  men,  and  chil¬ 
dren,  were  killed  as  wild  beasts.  .  .  .  They  saw  the  brands  and 
ruins  of  their  native  villages  and  towns;  and  this  atmosphere  of 
blood  and  of  smoke  surrounds  their  every  step  by  day,  and  by  night 
is  with  them  in  their  dreams.  .  .  .  Taras  Shevchenko,  who  in  his 
poem,  '‘Caucasus/’  relates  the  injuries  and  miseries  Ukraine  has 
had  to  suffer  from  its  enemies,  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  Ukrainian 
nation  the  following  words: 

“.  .  .  We  are  not  able  to  fight  with  Thee, 

We  dare  not  judge  Thy  deeds  .  .  . 

Our  task  is  only  weep  and  weep, 

And  mix  the  daily  bread  we  need, 

With  tears  and  bloody  sweat  .  .  . 

The  tyrants  are  tormenting  us, 

The  truth  lies  in  deep  sleep.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  Oh,  we  believe,  Lord  in  Thy  Power 
And  in  Thy  holy  word.  .  .  . 

The  truth  will  reign  the  whole  world  over. 

The  liberty  will  come  .  .  .  Oh,  Lord, 

And  only  Thee  will  all  the  nations 
Worship  through  eternity  .  .  .  But  now 
There  are  still  flowing  bloody  rivers 
Of  injury,  hate  and  tears.  .  . 

Stephan  Pancak 
Nikolai  Michalowk 

Six  Thousand  Young  People 

The  last  two  weeks  of  September  saw  the  students  returning 
from  the  long  vacation.  It  was  a  happiness  to  feel  that  they  had  a 
real  home  to  which  to  come,  and  would  not  be  forced,  as  in  former 
autumns,  to  study  and  eat  where  they  could  and  to  find  their 
pleasures  and  their  friends  as  they  might.  The  students  have  them¬ 
selves  shown  overwhelmingly  their  appreciation,  by  filling  every 
corner  of  the  Domov  almost  to  suffocation.  At  this  writing  there 
are  more  than  six  thousand  members,  of  twenty-one  nationalities. 
The  large  auditorium  has  been  turned  by  day  into  a  study-hall, 
the  cashiers’  office  has  been  moved  into  the  basement,  and  the  in¬ 
terests  of  the  girls  have  had  to  be  defended  in  order  to  prevent 
their  study  and  rest  rooms  from  being  taken  from  them. 

The  girls’  foyer  is  at  all  times  a  crowded  center  of  activity  for 
girls  of  every  nationality.  Every  Tuesday  and  Thursday  teas  are 
given  at  which  a  committee,  chosen  for  a  month,  presides.  So 


29 


large  is  the  house  membership  that  men  students  who  are  invited 
can  only  be  taken  in  rotation.  The  student  house  committee  is 
usually  present,  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  helps  as  hosts  to  make  all 
members  feel  at  home.  In  addition,  the  girls’  foyer  is  the  center 
where  are  given  small  and  intimate  talks  and  lectures  and  chamber 
concerts.  Here  are  held  the  receptions  for  visitors.  Here,  for 
example,  the  Russian  students,  newly  arrived  from  Constantinople, 
received  a  rousing  welcome.  Here  the  Ukrainians,  many  of  them 
too  timid  to  seek  out  friends  in  a  strange  land,  were  themselves 
sought  out  and  made  to  feel  at  home.  Here  later  these  same 
Ukrainians  in  appreciation  of  their  welcome  gave  a  vocal  concert. 
The  splendid  depth  of  the  voices  and  the  training  shown,  in  spite 
of  all  that  these  men  had  gone  through,  made  the  concert  a  mem¬ 
orable  event. 

With  the  autumn  an  effort  at  student  self-government  has 
been  made  by  the  Domov  directors,  and  a  new  constitution  has  been 
written.  The  self-government  idea,  such  as  is  known  in  American 
university  life,  has  had  no  understanding  here,  and  many  have  been 
the  amusing  and  sometimes  well-nigh  disastrous  results  of  giving 
the  students  their  head.  Self-government  seemed  at  first  to  mean 
to  the  students  chiefly  the  attempt  to  govern  the  directors,  finances, 
and  menus.  At  one  time  the  European  Student  Relief  almost  found 
itself  without  a  room,  and  the  girls  without  their  foyer.  It  has 
meant  much  patience,  much  tact,  and  much  repeating  of  principles. 
But  the  directors  still  believe  that  the  students  will  learn  govern¬ 
ment  by  helping  to  govern,  and  liberty  by  using  it,  and,  above  all, 
will  grow  into  a  larger  tolerance  by  coming  in  contact  with  the 
everyday  problems  which  the  Domov,  with  its  six  thousand  mem¬ 
bers,  has  to  offer  in  such  variety.  The  student  autonomy,  which 
is  not  yet  an  ideal  representative  and  international  body,  is  never¬ 
theless  becoming  increasingly  useful  and  responsible,  especially  as 
regards  student  activities  and  student  interest  in  student  welfare. 

Living  conditions,  which  are,  in  many  instances,  as  bad  as  they 
can  possibly  be,  remain  unaltered  from  one  month  to  another. 
That  this  is  so  is  not  due  to  lack  of  knowledge  or  sympathy  on  our 
part,  but  because  it  is  impossible  to  change  these  conditions  with¬ 
out  beginning  at  the  foundation — lack  of  housing.  No  amount  of 
money  given  by  us  could  alter  the  fact  that  in  one  house  many 
boys  are  living  in  rooms  whose  only  air  and  light  come  from  a 
long  corridor  in  which  there  are  closed  windows.  No  amount  of 
money  could  change  the  situation  of  dozens  of  other  students 
who  live  crowded  together  in  rooms  where  there  are  too  few 
windows,  or  where  the  space  is  so  insufficient  that  beds  are  stacked 
in  corners  during  the  day  in  order  to  give  them  room  enough  to 


30 


walk  about.  In  these  rooms  there  is  barely  space  for  one  or  two 
wardrobes,  so  that  clothing  and  other  belongings  must  lie  about 
on  beds  and  floors,  increasing  the  general  confusion  and  making 
it  impossible  to  keep  the  rooms  clean.  We  have  tried  here  and 
there,  by  gifts  of  chairs,  tables,  bookstands,  wash-stands,  and 
wardrobes,  to  make  living  quarters  a  little  more  possible,  but  our 
efforts  and  the  money  spent  make  practically  no  impression  upon 
the  conditions  as  a  whole.  Our  greatest  contribution  has  been  to 
take  away  the  students  suffering  from  well-advanced  tuberculosis. 
This  has  been  done  within  the  last  two  months  in  more  than  a 
dozen  cases.  One  of  our  guests,  who  had  not  believed  that  con¬ 
ditions  could  really  be  as  bad  as  had  been  said,  and  who  was  later 
convinced  that  he  had  not  been  told  the  half,  many  times  expressed 
surprise  that  such  self-respecting,  clean,  and  cheerful  looking  stu¬ 
dents  as  he  saw  could  live  in  or  come  out  of  such  places  as  we 
took  him  to  see!  These  conditions  are  not  confined  to  one  na¬ 
tionality.  They  are  found  among  all. 

A  girl  student  from  Ukraine,  in  her  last  year  on  the  philo¬ 
sophical  faculty,  was  living  from  support  given  by  her  father,  living 
very  poorly  but  never  asking  for  anything.  The  father  died.  The 
student  was  working  in  the  laboratory  when  the  word  reached  her, 
and  at  the  news  she  let  fall  a  costly  apparatus,  breaking  it  in  pieces. 
Since  she  had  lost  all  support  by  the  death  of  her  father,  she  had 
no  money  to  pay  for  the  glass,  and  though  she  should  have  been  at 
work  in  the  laboratory,  she  was  ashamed  to  go  there  while  she 
could  not  pay  for  the  breakage.  This  lasted  for  three  months.  We 
have  loaned  her  the  money  and  she  is  paying  it  back  monthly.  So 
she  was  able  to  work  in  the  laboratory  again,  and  to  finish  her 
studies. 

Huntley  Dupre  and  Edith  May. 


The  Studentsky  Domov 

If  there  were  people  who  did  not  know  about  the  Studentsky 
Domov,  who  did  not  trust  the  unselfish  high  idealism  in  which  the 
house  was  erected  and  run,  they  have  disappeared  during  this 
month.  A  special  tea  was  arranged  for  the  press  when  printed 
reports  and  pictures  were  handed  to  the  journalists.  The  building 
was  opened  to  the  public,  and  crowds  of  people  of  all  classes  came 
in.  There  was  no  end  of  admiration.  Everybody  read  the  pam¬ 
phlets  distributed  and  many  filled  out  the  membership  blanks  of¬ 
fered  to  them  on  leaving.  In  the  three  hours  many  gifts  were 
collected  by  the  students  and  many  tickets  sold  for  a  musical  mati¬ 
nee  which  the  student  committee  had  arranged  in  the  biggest  hall 


31 


of  the  city.  We  hope  to  get  some  money  which  will  enable  us  to 
make  the  set  of  newspapers  in  the  reading-room  more  complete, 
and  to  arrange  more  tea  parties  and  lectures  without  charging  stu¬ 
dents  any  entrance  fee.  Sometimes  we  feel  very  unhappy  when 
so  many  plans  have  to  be  postponed  just  because  of  lack  of  money. 
So  many  people  do  not  know  how  to  use  their  big  fortunes  while 
such  an  eminently  important  institution  as  the  Studentsky  Domov 
does  not  know  how  to  pay  its  coal  bills.  I  could  give  you  many 
examples  of  such  cases  but  I  shall  choose  just  two  of  my  daily 
office  experience : 

When  the  house  was  built  there  was  not  money  enough  to  get 
the  inside  painted.  Fortunately  an  American  lady  who  visited  the 
Domov  gave  a  sum  large  enough  to  have  both  foyers  beautifully 
painted.  But  the  large  auditorium  had  to  remain  just  white¬ 
washed.  Then  the  pupils  of  the  Prague  Academy  of  Arts  came  to 
me,  it  was  just  before  the  great  holidays,  and  offered  to  give  up 
their  holidays  and  paint  the  hall  for  us,  if  we  would  pay  for  the 
colors.  A  well-known  professor  of  the  academy  himself  made 
sketches  for  them.  Those  fellows  really  burned  with  enthusiasm, 
and  we  had  to  refuse  them  because  of  lack  of  money  to  buy  the 
paints.  I  confess  this  was  one  of  the  worst  moments  I  have  had 
in  my  otherwise  beautiful  work. 

The  other  day  a  Czech  student  came  in  asking  if  we  could  give 
free  membership  to  a  Russian  refugee  girl.  Our  membership  fee 
is  very  small,  about  five  cents  monthly,  but  still  many  students 
cannot  afford  to  pay  it  and  such  can  apply  for  a  free  membership. 
These  fees  are  paid  from  a  small  fund  into  which  all  gifts  of 
visitors  go.  So  I  said  we  would  be  delighted  to  provide  the  girl 
the  free  membership  and  a  few  minutes  later  she  came  in  to  thank 
me.  In  talking  with  her  I  mentioned  the  opportunities  which  our 
cheap  cafeteria  provides.  To  my  astonishment  she  said  she  did  not 
eat  there,  and  I  then  found  out  that  the  only  food  she  took  was  tea 
and  bread.  Unfortunately  we  had  no  funds  at  this  time  to  provide 
free  meals  and  our  cafeteria  has  to  make  money  in  order  to  cover 
the  deficit  of  the  Domov.  So  the  only  thing  I  could  offer  the  girl 
was  work  in  the  kitchen  washing  dishes  for  two  hours  daily.  The 
pay  would  be  just  enough  to  buy  dinner  and  supper  tickets.  Some 
days  later  I  found  the  girl  in  a  corner  of  the  hall  crying.  She  had 
been  dismissed  from  the  kitchen  because  she  was  taken  in  the 
very  act  of  stealing  a  roll — one  single  roll  out  of  the  ten  thousand 
furnished  daily  by  our  own  bakery.  Asking  further  questions  I 
found  out  that  she  used  the  money  she  earned  to  pay  her  lodging. 
She  lived  with  six  other  refugees  in  a  small  room  with  no  window. 
She  was  hungry,  and  working  with  food,  she  could  not  resist,  but 

32 


took  a  roll.  She  is  a  student  of  medicine  from  Odessa,  both  her 
parents  were  killed  by  Bolsheviks  and  she  stands  in  the  world 
alone,  helpless,  and  penniless.  Of  course  we  arranged  that  she 
go  back  to  her  kitchen  work.  The  same  evening  I  gave  this  story 
in  a  middle  school  Bible  class  of  the  Renaissance  Movement  just  to 
awaken  the  social  conscience  of  our  junior  members.  They  listened 
silently.  When  I  finished  one  said,  “I  will  not  go  to  the  confec¬ 
tionary  shop  as  I  know  other  fellow  students  are  having  nothing 
to  eat.”  Two  days  later  another  member  of  this  group  came  in 
to  tell  me  joyfully  that  he  had  found  a  lodging  and  a  position  for 
the  girl.  So  you  may  see  how  we  work  and  how  much  could  be 
done  if  only  we  did  not  have  to  ask  for  the  dreadful  money. 

Jaroslav  Rose. 


33 


